Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-09-23
where We knew that there vas large VII

weeds, DoughS OF trees, and other rubbish,
brought, Good supposed, TO this spot by
some current, which he was much puzzled
to account for. Whilst we Were speculat-
ing about this, Sir Henry pointed out a
flock of large white swans, which were
feeding on the drift some little way ahead
of us. Now had already noticed swans
flying about this lake, and having never
come across them before In Africa, was ex-
ceedingly anxious TO obtain a specimen. l
had questioned the natives dbout them and
learned that they came FROM over the
mountain, always arriving NJ certain per-
fods of the year in the early morning, when
it was very easy to catch them on account
of their exhausted condition. also asked
them what country they came from, when
they shrugged their shoulders and said
on the top Of the great black precipice was,
stony, inhospitable land, and beyond that
were mountains with snow, and full of
wild beasts, where no people lived, and be-
yond the mountains were hundreds of
miles of dense thorn forest, so thick that
even the elephants could not get through
it, much less men. Next | asked them If
they had ever heard of white people like
ourselves living on the further side Of the
mountains and the thorn-forests, whereat
lileT IdiaInCtl, Jul dlltI VI ftEtiS a vel OIll
woman came and told ME that when she
was a little girl, her grandfather had told
her that. in his youth, his grandfather had
crossed the desert and the mountains, and
pierced the thorn forest, and seen white
people who lived in stone kraals beyond.
or course, as this took the tale back some
two hundred and fifty years, the informa-
ton was very indefinite; but still there it
nd hinlyEpCv IT I
firmly convinced that there was some truth
In all these rumors, and equally determ-
ined to solve the mystery. Little did l
guess in what an almost miraculous way
my desire was to be gratified.
Well, we set to work to stalk the swans,
which kept drawing, as they fed, nearer
and nearer to the precipice, and at last we
pushed the canoe under shelter of patch
of drift, within forty yards OF them. Sir
Henry had the shotgun. loaded with No.
l, and, waiting for chance. got two in a
line, and firing at their necks, killed them
both. Up rose the rest thirty or more OF
them, with a mighty splashing; and, as
they did So he gave them the other barrel.
Down came one fellow with broken wing
and saw the leg of another drop and
few feathers start out of his back, but he
went on quite strong. Up went the swans,
circling ever higher till at last they were
mere specks level with the top of the
frowning precipice, when | saw them form
into a triangle and head off for the IN
known northeast. Meanwhile we had
picked up our two dead ones, and beauti-
full birds they were, weighing not less than
about thirty pounds each, and were chas-
ing the winged one, which had scrambled
over n mass of driftwoed into a pool of
clear water beyond. Finding a difficulty
in forcing the canoe through the rubbish,
| told our only remaining Wakwafi SER
want, whom ] knew to be an excellent
swimmer, to jump over, dive under the
drift, and catch them, knowing that as
there were no crOcodiles in this lake he
could come to no harm. Entering into the
fun of the thing the man did so, and soon
was lodging about after the winged swan
in fine style, getting gradually nearer to
the rock wall, against which the water
washed as he did so.
Suddenly he gave up swimming after
the swan, and began to cry out that he
was being carried away; and, indeed we
saw that, though he was swimming with
all his strength toward us, he was being
drawn slowly toward the precipice. With
Il few desperate strokes of our paddles we
pushed the canoe through the crust of drift
and rowcd toward the man as hard as we
could, but, as fast as we went, he was
drawn faster toward the rock Suddenly
/ saw that before us, just rising eighteen
inches or so above the surface of the lake,
was what looked like the top of the arch of
n submerged cave or railway tunnel. Evil
IDENTIFY, from the waternark on the rock
several feet above it, it was generally en-
tirely submerged; but there had been q
dry season, and the cold had prevented the
snow from melting as freely as usual; so
the lake was low and the arch showed.
Towards this arch our poor servant was
being sucked with frightful rapidity. He
was not more than twenty PAGES from it,
and we were about thirty when I saw it,
and with little help from us the canoe few
along after him. He struggled bravely,
and thought that we should have saved
him, when suddenly perceived an express
sion Of despair come upon his face, and
there before our eyes he was sucked down
into the cruel swirling blue depths, and
vanished. At the same moment felt our
canoe seized rs with mighty hand, and
propelled with resistless force toward the
rock.
We realized our danger now and rowed,
or rather padded, furiously in our attempt
to get out of the vortex In vain; in an
other second we We're flying straight for
the arch like an arrow, and | thought that
we were lost. Luckily retained sufficient
presence of mind to shout out, instantly
setting the example by throwing myself
into the bottom of the canoe, Down on
your faCes-tLown" and the others had the
sense to take the hint. In another instant
there was grinding noise and the boat
was pushed down till the water began to
trickle over the Sides and | thought that
we were gone. But no; suddenly the grind
ing ceased; and we could again feel the
canoe flying along. l turned my head a
little-I dared not lift ft-and looked up.
By the feeble light that yet reached the
canoe, | could make out that dense arch
of rock hung just over our heads and that
was all. In another minute | could not
even make out as much as that; for the
faint light had merged into shadow, and
the shadows had been swallowed up in
darkness, utter and complete.
For an hour or so we lay there, not dar-
ing to lift our heads for fear lest the brains
should be dashed out of them and scarcely
able to speak even, on account of the noise
of the rushing water which drowned our
voices Not, indeed, that we had much
inclination to speak, seeing that we were
overwhelmed by the awfulness of our po-
sition and the imminent fear of instant
death, either by being dashed against the
sides of the cavern, or on rock, or being
sucked down into the raging waters, or
perhaps asphyXiated by want of air All
of these and many other modes of death
presented themselves to my imagination
rs lay at the bottom of the canoe, listen
ing to the swirl of the hurrying waters
which ran whittier we knew not. One
only other sound could l hear, and that
was Alphonse's intermittent howl of ter
ror coming from the center of the canoe;
and even that seemed faint and unreal
Indeed, the whole thing overpOwered my
brain, and began to believe that l was
the victim of some CHASTITY spirit shaking
nightmare.
To be continued.
Fifteen Great Inventions.